Neighbors upset over sound wall

Residents living in homes that back onto Highway 101 in Newbury Park are branding a new $2.4 million sound wall a waste of money.

The wall, built along the southbound on-ramp at Wendy Drive, was completed in late spring.

But homeowners, some of whom have been lobbying the city for decades to do something about traffic noise, are unhappy that it has done little to improve their quality of life.

"I was very pleased to see it finally being built, and you'd like to think that it has made a difference, but when you stand in the backyard, it's hard to hear any difference," said Ian Fletcher, who has lived with his family on Shirley Drive since 1987.

A dozen or so houses along is Pamela Karcher, who's lived in her home since 1997. She says the noise seems louder than ever.

"I kind of think that it's ridiculous that they spent so much money on this," she said. "If they spent so much money on something like this, then I think they should have done it right."

The city spent $1.2 million on the project, with the other half of funding coming from a state grant.

"I feel bad that they feel that way," said Mark Watkins, city public works director. "We've done everything we can. We built the wall to the maximum height allowable, and we built it out of solid masonry, and we built it in the optimal place possible."

According to the state Department of Transportation, which oversaw construction, the height of the wall varies from 12 to 16 feet, although the height for most of the wall is 16 feet, the maximum allowed.

Noise readings before construction showed that traffic noise ranged from 61 to 74 decibels, and a peak hour reading taken on Rodney Street averaged 70 decibels.

Caltrans officials said they do not take decibel readings after a wall is constructed so could not say what the level is now.

However, Thousand Oaks senior civil engineer Mike Tohidian wrote in a letter that: "The noise study conducted for this project established the required height of the sound wall at this location. The construction of the sound wall was designed to reduce noise levels by the required 5 dBa noise reduction."

Caltrans spokeswoman Jeanne Bonfilio said the agency aims for a 5 decibel reduction, "and it does make a difference and, for the most part, sound walls are very successful."

Jerry Horwitz, who has lived on Shirley Drive for 29 years, said he's angry at what he sees as a waste of public money.

"It's a boondoggle, something that has no value," Horwitz said. "I'm a starving man, and they gave me a piece of bread. If I sound ungrateful, I am ungrateful."

But Watkins pointed out that no one ever said the wall would make the noise go away.

"A lot of money was spent on that sound wall, and there are other residents citywide who would love a sound wall at the back of their properties," he said.